Tag Archives: storage

As attached as I am to my phone, I still have a difficult time using it as my personal notebook or calendar. When I have an idea or an important date, I will always jot it down on a piece of paper or in my paper calendar. I guess I just still like writing things down, makes it feel more concrete. The only problem is that sometimes I lose the paper I write on. Or my daughter draws all over it with pen, crinkles it up and tosses it.

So, as we’re working on our house, I am constantly jotting down mini “thrift lists” on scratch pieces of paper, losing it, then forgetting what I wanted in the first place. In order to keep my ideas in one place and make it a little more fun, I’m going to start posting a thrift list. Each time I get or need a new item, I can update the list as I go. Sounds fun, eh?

While we’re working on building our little farmhouse kitchen, I try to add pieces here and there that work in our kitchen now and still give that vintage farmhouse vibe. For me, the easiest way to do that is through storage. I got a set of three metal containers for flour, sugar and tea at a flea market, and have since added sealed glass containers for all of my baking stuff. These small pieces make the kitchen feel like my own and give it a clean yet cozy feel.

Here are some other storage items that I hope to include soon:

Photo Credit: Alexandra Grablewski / Sweet Paul

Right now, I have a big jar holding all of my utensils. The only issue is that the mouth is not big enough to hold everything, so I keep the utensils I use daily in it, and then throw everything else in jar, where it all gets lost and if I’m not careful, smashed. I love the idea of organizing my utensils in different sized tin cans – something everyone has. You can find out more about this project by visiting Sweet Paul.

Photo Credit: Unsophisticook

The “food prep” counter is getting cluttered with storing our fruit, veggies, bread, sweets and spices, and since we have basically zero space on our walls, all of the cute hanging spice racks I see just won’t work in our kitchen. I do, however, have a spare drawer that could easily fit our spices in. I love this idea from Unsophisticook of using baby food jars, chalk paint and a chalk pen to label each jar.

Photo Credit: Diana/ Our Vintage Home Love

See that ladder pot rack? Yeah, that’s my dream right there. My aunt has a gorgeous metal pot rack that just happened to come with her house. Whatever. And every time I tell my boyfriend I need one, he just laughs it off. Because he seriously has zero time for any home projects. I get it. But this. This I could do on my own. You can see a tour of this beautiful kitchen from Our Vintage Home Love on Eclectically Vintage, you can find out how to build your own ladder on Our Vintage Home Love and if you already have a ladder, you can get the tutorial on Womans Day. Got it?

Photo Credit: Yvonne / The Yvestown Blog

The one place I do have wall space is by our dining room table, and I have a cabinet that would be PERFECT there! Just need to make sure it’s something I can hang. I love how this cabinet from The Yvestown Blog is styled. I was just introduced to this blog from a roundup on Arcadian Home, and I just love it. She has so many beautiful DIY and knitting tutorials and it’s just a really gorgeous site to look at.

I can’t wait to start adding these items to our kitchen! What are your favorite kitchen storage staples? Share them in the comments and connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google + and Pinterest!

I never really imagined how challenging it would be to get any projects finished with a toddler in the house. She’s constantly on the move, which means I am, too. So I was actually pretty pumped when I learned that my workspace would be moved out of the house – due to the baby on the way – and into the studio in our backyard. We’re pretty lucky to have that studio in the first place.

Half of the studio will be storage for both our belongings and our tools, and the other half will be all mine! Obviously I won’t be able to get in there that often, but when I do, I will have free range to do what I want! To help get the creative juices flowing, I found some pretty inspiring workspaces and wanted to share them with you!

From A Beautiful Mess

Of course I love this space from A Beautiful Mess. It would be perfect for the tool storage, and I could put a lot of my bigger supplies there, along with the little ones. I would just need to figure out a way to include the personal belongings storage and make it all work. This is definitely a good place to start, though.

From Karson Butler Events on Inspired by This

I have a multitude of notebooks, ranging from big and small, and everything in between. I try to keep one with me at all times in case I get inspired by something. Since I often write in different notebooks, the ideas and concepts often get lost. I would love to have a chalkboard wall with a corkboard so I can keep track of all my crazy ideas. And there is just something about this chalkboard wall from the design studio of Karson Butler Events, and featured on Inspired by This. It just screams “CREATE IN HERE!” (hence the caps).

From Paper Fashion, featured on Glitter Guide

Katie Rodgers from Paper Fashion sure knows how to make a comfy workspace. I would probably opt out of putting a couch in the room – strictly out of fear that I would just end up lying on it the whole time – but I would definitely love to have the lights up, and I love all of the bright colors. It totally brightens the mood and gets you energized…perfect for getting to work. You can see more of this workspace over at Glitter Guide.

From Heart Handmade UK

What really caught my attention about this room by Heart Handmade UK was the use of storage, especially this fabric cabinet. All of my fabric ends up in a bin and then is forgotten. If I kept it visible like that, it might actually get put to use – what a thought! I also love the vintage odds and ends she has decorating her space. See the entire craft room tour by clicking on her blog link above.

Meet Cody, a work-at-home mama in her mid-twenties from Kansas City, MO, who runs an eco-friendly monster toy line called Lu & Ed. Before starting her own business, Cody was the head of marketing in a retail store, and before that, she was in line to become a store manager at a local restaurant. Not looking back, Cody says that making mon-stors “is the best job I have ever had!”

She came up with the idea of Mon-stors when she moved from South Carolina to Missouri with her son and lived in the basement of her fiance’s mom’s house. With little room to move around, Cody thought of a storage solution where her son could literally feed toys to a stuffed monster.

Once I posted photos online, I got dozens of requests and soon after, dropped my day job to pursue it full time!

Cody is not only a mama to her son, she is also a mama to seven rescue pets and has another job recording sales for an author. Being a mom has made her more motivated because she has more flexibility as an independent business owner than she would in the workforce, and she is setting a good example for her son to pursue his dreams.

Photo from Lu & Ed

“My son loves what I do and I love that it enables me to stay home with him, that I can be here for him all the time. I am so thankful for everyone who supports my indie business and allows me this opportunity.”

Although it’s hard for Cody to pinpoint her favorite thing about running her own business, she did say that the scariest thing is straightening out her taxes and licenses.

“You always want to make sure you cross your T’s and dot your I’s and it can be scary filing taxes for your first time or applying for a new license when you relocate. There are so many great resources out there now for handmade businesses to help them get their affairs in order, and for that I am thankful!”

Right now, she is a one-mama shop and works in the extra bedroom in the back of her house. Cody says that she is casually looking for an intern to help out with sewing during her busy times – before big events and during the holiday season – but in the meantime, her son has turned out to be quite the helper.

Photo from Lu & Ed

“On take your child to work day last year he worked in the studio with me all day and made two stuffed monsters, and had so much fun doing so! He also loves to make jewelry, sculpt, paint, make soap and draw. ♥”

She describes her workspace as “messy, colorful, fun, full of inspiring quotes, monsters and a huge over flowing closet of fabric.” Speaking of fabric, Cody uses all eco-friendly materials to make Mon-stors and assures that there is absolutely no waste going into landfills. She uses large cuts of fabric to make Mon-stors, then from that, she cuts use the remnants to make small Mon-stors, totes, stuffed monsters, gadget Mon-stors and other products. Whatever is left from that is used for stuffing or to make dog beds that she donates to animal shelters.

“They are all little steps that make a big impact in the environment.”

Cody has always been eco-aware but admits that she didn’t know the impact buying new fabric had on the environment until she took a part-time job at a fabric store to help cover the costs of some dental work she needed. After she witnessed all the waste firsthand, she decided that she could no longer support big-box fabric stores.

Photo from Lu & Ed

“Fabric arrives in a big, plastic wrapped box. The box and plastic wrap are thrown in the trash (not recycled), then each bolt is wrapped in plastic wrap, which is then throw away. All uneven edges are trimmed and just thrown away, as are tiny remnants & the cardboard sleeves the fabric is wrapped around.”

She started buying fabric at thrift stores and after a few months, people were offering her old fabric, sheets, clothing and blankets that they were no longer using. Wanting to do more, she searched for more eco-friendly ways to run her business. She started flipping food boxes inside out and once her family and friends heard she was doing this, they started giving her their old boxes.

“I haven’t had to buy or pick up a box from the post office in over two years! I also found Eco Enclose, a company that makes biodegradable tape from renewable resources, Fabric Recycles, a fabric and crafting notion thrift store where I can buy thread spools second hand at a fraction of the cost (and pollution of production) of new thread, and Moo‘s amazing recycled, biodegradable business cards!”

Cody has witnessed her eco-efforts sparking a revolution among artisans within her community. Business owners are realizing that being eco-friendly in your supplies and packaging actually results in major savings for your business, and more and more people are coming to her for advice on how to make their businesses more sustainable.

Cody’s car after a thrifting haul. Photo from Lu & Ed

“Several people I know have stopped purchasing boxes and bubble mailers and started recycling packaging or making their own mailers from reclaimed materials to reduce landfill waste and environmental pollution. I think that it is creating a bit of a ripple effect – as more people close to me make small changes, people close to them will as well, and so on. ♥ If we all make small changes they will have a huge impact on the Earth!”

She says that her eco-conscious efforts are also creating a ripple effect with her son. They pick up litter together all the time, often talk about sustainability and she takes him on all of her thrift store adventures. “My son is a total green-freak,” she says.

“He will grab a robe and say “Wow, this would be a great monster!” We buy all of our clothing, dishes, and home goods like lamps and decor from thrift stores, and my son is aware of the ecological impact factory produced goods creates on the world. My son has a hawk eye for organic products at the grocery store, too. Haha! I hope he will maintain his love for nature and making good choices through adulthood.”

Cody started Team Lu & Ed at the beginning of this year to collaborate with other artists and fulfill customer demands for products she doesn’t offer. It slowly grew into a charitable endeavor, with up to 50% from the sale of each product going to charity. Recently, she partnered with The Mollie Shop to sell super cute bows, and half of the profit will be donated to Drumm Farm Center for Children.

Cody’s collaboration with The Mollie Shop. Her first donation was $148. Photo from Lu & Ed

“It has been a huge success and I have loved helping emerging artists become discovered through our collaborations, and I love bring art & toys together to create change in my local community!”

She says that her favorite thing about what she does is “how happy my products make children. It just makes my heart so happy to see photos of children lovingly playing with their monsters.” She is adding a few new lines to her shop and is working on a few new collaborations. Cody hopes that her green business will continue to inspire her community.

“I am hoping that my eco-mission will inspire other handmade business owners make more conscious decisions about where they source their supplies, and inspire consumers to make slower purchases, really thinking about the product, how it makes them feel and the impact it has on the Earth before buying. ♥”

You can find out more about Cody, Lu & Ed and her mission by visiting her website and connecting with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. If you would like to participate in Yo Momma Monday, please post in the comments and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #yomommamonday. You can find more awesome mama inspiration on my Pinterest!